Hiring vs buying machinery: Why flexibility and cost-efficiency win every time
When it comes to deciding whether to hire or buy plant and machinery, one size doesn’t fit all. We have found with our clients that there isn’t a hard and fast rule. Some prefer to own the bigger plant such as 30- to 80-tonne excavators for major projects; others own a range of small plant and rent the bigger models. It all depends on what your project requires and whether you need plant and machinery for upcoming works long-term.
Key factors in deciding whether to rent or buy construction machinery
- Cost efficiencies: The biggest cost consideration is how much you will use the machine over time. If it’s likely to just get short-term or infrequent use, hiring is the better option. This avoids costs of asset depreciation, insurance, maintenance and repairs and technology becoming dated and inefficient. Owning heavy machinery ties up capital that could be better spent on core business operations or growth. Hiring allows you to preserve cash flow, especially valuable during long, multi-phase civil contracts.
- Availability: If the machine is owned by you, it’s available provided it’s not lounging in your workshop waiting for repairs or servicing. However, when you choose to hire, you schedule the machine needed and you can guarantee that it's ready to go by the time it gets to your job site. That is because hire companies have a stringent process of maintaining a wide range of machines in their fleet.
- Flexibility: Very few contractors can carry a full fleet with every size and machine they’re likely to need. Hiring allows you to scale up or down at any timem depending on what the project requires. It also avoids the situation where you would try to make do with machines that don’t quite fit the job. You’re not attempting to fit a round peg into a square hole, or a 24T excavator into a small space (we have 1.7T machines ready to hire for that job).
- Modern and up to date: Renting gives you access to the most advanced and up-to-date machinery and equipment without the need for significant capital investment. As technology evolves more efficient and cost-effective machinery are readily available to hire.
- Maintenance and repairs: Hire companies take care of all maintenance and repairs, so you can avoid the associated downtime. This is especially crtical on projects with tight timeframes.
- Storage and transport: Hiring a machine eliminates the need for long-term storage. From delivery to site setup, hire companies manage logistics—freeing up your team to focus on the job.
With more than 300 items of low-hour, late-model plant and machinery in the HEXhire fleet, you are sure to get what you need for even the largest of jobs. We ensure that our fleet is Tier-1 and ChekRite inducted, meaning they are ready to tackle all major projects.
-Browse the range:
Whether you are in the market to hire or buy, our team of machine experts can point you in the right direction. Click here to buy used machinery and attachments.
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